The offensive line breakdown from the week 8 game against the New England Patriots is now complete and what a great performance it was overall by the unit. This was the first time this year that the Steelers started the same group from a the previous week as they had been forced to start a different combination every week for the first 7 games of the season due to injuries. Overall, the Steelers had all 5 starting linemen in the 80% or higher range this week and 3 of the 5 starters over 88%. That is always a good sign. They were certainly helped in pass protection by the huge amount of short Read more [...]

I have gone back through the Steelers game against the New England Patriots now a few times and jotted down some more observations that I did not include in the post game recap. I do this every week as it is impossible to see everything just one or two times through a game. Many will judge off of a stat sheet and it is what sets this site apart from the rest as we actually watch the games more than just one time. Here we go. The Patriots were so protective against the long ball early on that is opened up the middle of the field for Heath Miller and Ben Roethlisberger took it. The Steelers Read more [...]

It was a great day in Steeler Nation on Sunday as the Steelers knocked off the hated New England Patriots today at Heinz Field 25-17. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 36 of 50 passing on the day for 365 yards and 2 touchdowns and he attempted 32 of them in the first half alone. The touchdown passes were to running back Mewelde Moore and Antonio Brown, the first of his career in the regular season. Tight end Heath Miller was a huge factor early in the game as the Patriots poor pass defense concentrated early on taking away the deep pass from Mike Wallace. Miller caught 4 of his 7 passes Read more [...]

It is that time again as I have now finished the offensive line breakdown from the week 6 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While the first half was not perfect, it was above average and the offense as a whole seemed to have good rhythm and jump early on. The second half was a different story. I kind of relate it to a NASCAR driver saying he had a great car until the engine blew up. if the car does not run good the entire race, the driver has no shot at winning. As I always, I like to disclaimer these breakdowns. Each player is graded as a pass or fail on each play. There is also quite a bit Read more [...]

Below are the offensive personnel packages, play counts and participation chart for the Steelers week 6 win against the Jacksonville on Sunday. The first thing to note is that once again Emmanuel Sanders received more snaps than Antonio Brown this week and it would be a little more noticeable if I included the plays with penalties, as he was on the field for 4 more total snaps. Issac Redman still saw the field for a good amount of snaps despite the return of Rashard Mendenhall from injury. Trai Essex replaced Doug Legursky at left guard due to injury of course. Not too much sticks out as far Read more [...]

Not much to predict this week as far as inactives go against the Jacksonville Jaguars with 7 Steelers players listed as out on the Friday injury report. Let's have a look at the injured players, how long each may remain sidelined and who benefits by them being down. Here are your 7 inactives for Sunday. DE Aaron Smith - Smith suffered a mid foot sprain against the Texans back in week 4 and this will make the second straight game he has missed. The Steelers did not miss him last week as Ziggy Hood played well back on the left side as Brett Keisel returned last week to take back over his right Read more [...]

The Steelers are back at home for the second week in a row to host the 1-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. The Steelers injury list remains long, but they received solid play last week from the back-ups and put together their best all-around game this season, last week against the Titans. As I do each and every week, here are my 7 things to watch for this week against the Jaguars as the Steelers look to move to 4-2 on the season. At the bottom is my score prediction and I will have my week 6 picks and predictions up for the other games later tonight. No Big MoJo - Despite the Jaguars 1-4 start, running Read more [...]

If you have read my post and listened to the Terrible Podcast since the Steelers drafted running back Jonathan Dwyer, you know that I have never doubted his running ability with the football. My concerns with him have always been when the football is not in his hands. This key factor is what keeps running backs on rosters as plenty come out of college every year that can merely tote the rock. During his rookie season Dwyer appeared totally lost during the preseason and in the week 17 game against the Browns when the ball was not in his hands. He struggled with his blitz pick-up most of all. Read more [...]

No big surprise here as Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians announced to the media today during his weekly Q & A that running back Rashard Mendenhall would start Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars according to Jim Wexell. Mendenhall dressed, but did not play against the Titans last Sunday as he was nursing a hamstring injury suffered the week before against the Texans. Isaac Redman started in the place of Mendenhall and Jonathan Dwyer backed him up with Mewelde Moore also sidelined with an ankle injury. Redman rushed for 49 yards on 15 carries and earned every bit of it with Read more [...]

Below are the offensive personnel packages, play counts and participation chart for the Steelers week 5 win against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. The first thing of note this week is that the Steelers used two tight ends or more on 39 of the 63 non-penalty plays this past week. 19 of those 39 had 3 tight ends on the field. Also 7 plays featured 4 or more wide receivers on the field. The 11 and 12 personnel packages were used on 35 of the 63 plays. Jonathan Dwyer saw 18 snaps thanks to Isaac Redman missing some plays due to cramps. Emmanuel Sanders saw 5 more snaps that Antonio Brown this week. Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 29 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I open with a look at the injury report as delivered by Mike Tomlin at his Tuesday press conference. This week's presser lacked some of the surprise of weeks past, which is a good thing if you are a Steelers fan. The only real injury to come out of Sunday's contest was the Marcus Gilbert re-injuring his right shoulder. Gilbert and a host of other Steelers are questionable for Sunday's contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars. We go through the list and try to read the tea leaves, giving our thoughts on who will play and who won't. The Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 28 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd is back in the lead chair and we get right into the Steelers 38-17 win over the Tennessee Titans yesterday at Heinz Field. David was at the game and fills me in on the atmosphere at the game before we start breaking it all down. We talk extensively about the big spark that Chris Hoke, Max Starks and Isaac Redman provided yesterday and how the yardage gained by Redman was deceiving. We were both worried about Hoke after the first play from scrimmage, but he rebounded to have one of the best games of his career. We not the big return Read more [...]

I just finished up going through the game again and below are more observations from the Steelers 38-17 win over the Tennessee Titans this afternoon. I understand the reason why Mike Tomlin put the defense out on the field to start the game but I do not agree with it. I get the message he is sending, but really would rather the offense take the ball instead. Just saying. The defense got off to a rough start on the very first play by the Titans as Chris Hoke was cut block and Chris Johnson went off left tackle for 21 yards. It was 1 of only 3 explosive plays allowed on the day however and Read more [...]

The phrase of the week was, "hacked off" and the Steelers played just that way in their 38-17 win against the Tennessee Titans today at Heinz Field. The Steelers established the run early and mixed in various short passes on their way to compiling 435 yards of total offense. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a career game high 5 touchdown passes with two going to Hines Ward and one each to Mike Wallace, Heath Miller and David Johnson. On the afternoon Roethlisberger was 24 of 34 for 228 yards. His lone interception came late in the first half on a hurry up play that looked full of Read more [...]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his post game press conference following the Steelers week 5 win against the Tennessee Titans at Heinz Field. Tomlin opened by saying it was a good bounce back week for the team coming off the loss last week and he thought it was the appropriate response and that they played together today. He thought they played well in all three phases and made necessary plays when they were needed. Tomlin updated the injuries suffered in the game. James Farrior (shoulder), Heath Miller (shoulder), Maurkice Pouncey (right knee), Hines Ward (chest) and Isaac Redman (leg Read more [...]